Power Rankings: Montreal Impact make their case

Only MLS league games will be reflected in the rankings. Rankings are voted on by MLSsoccer.com editorial staff; words by Alicia Rodriguez.

BIGGEST MOVERS: MTL +5; PHI, POR, VAN, LA -2

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LAST WEEK: 1

HIGH: 1 | LOW: 7

The Five Stripes continue to cruise, posting a simple road win in the altitude over the Rapids. A double-game week may give Tata Martino a chance to rotate the lineup a bit. With the Supporters' Shield race so close, however, it may be tempting to stick with the group that's delivering results.

If Atlanta drop one of their games this week, that would erase a game in hand over the Red Bulls and make the Shield race even closer. Their draw against D.C. United did dent their own Shield hopes, but the Red Bulls posted a cool 2-0-1 record in the Atlantic Cup this season, something they'll surely be pleased with.

Nine wins in a row! It's amazing to remember back at how poor the Sounders were until this current streak began, but they've made this a trademark under Brian Schmetzer, somehow. The magic appears to be alive and well in the Emerald City again this year -- we'll see how long it lasts.

Sporting bring the hammer down on another opposing manager with an emphatic win, but even with the Earthquakes not quite posting the strongest challenge, Peter Vermes' side continues to look like they are timing their season peak just right. Still another month-plus in the regular season, of course, but they look good.

Sometimes, grinding out scoreless draws are not satisfying but adequate, but FC Dallas seemed to treat theirs against Columbus as more like a loss. Going up against a side reeling in Vancouver, Oscar Pareja & Co. will have a chance to bounce back and battle back to be top in the West.

LAFC have blown the expansion team curve away, but their frustrating draw against New England is definitely how opponents will try to play them in the playoffs. Bob Bradley's squad will need to wear the large shin guards and work on set pieces to prepare in the coming weeks.

A road point in Dallas is solid, but the suspicion Columbus' attack is stopped up is real at this point. Perhaps they're the new Sporting -- outstanding defense, but scoring will be irregular and difficult? With the way MLS has been going this season in relation to scoring in general, they may be outliers.

Have to imagine Quincy Amarikwa walked through the tunnel after the Impact's big road win over Philly yelling something like, "You like that?!" If Montreal keep playing like they did against the Union, one figures us experts, as well as the Impact fans, will indeed like that.

Well, that was not a great game for the Union, getting spanked at home by the Impact. Add to that they've got a very hard week ahead, against surging Seattle and Sporting, with the U.S. Open Cup final coming the week after. Crucible of fire for Jim Curtin's group!

Good news: Four games unbeaten, five points above the playoff line. Bad news: Inconsistency for RSL rears its head once more. Five games left in the regular season to get on the straight and narrow, but one wonders if they'll fully find it this year.

D.C. United got four points from a double-game week, and still have a shot at the playoffs. Hard to say how they would have fared with a traditional schedule this season, but chances are they would have been in the playoff slots already. This looks like it will go down to the wire.

The Timbers went 15 games in a row without losing -- nearly half of an entire season -- and may either squeak into the playoffs or miss out altogether. For as much as we've railed on RSL for their inconsistency, Portland may be an even bigger Jekyll-and-Hyde team this year.

NYCFC were reeling, but perhaps a bye week will have done them good. Their next game, on the road against Montreal, won't be easy, and it's a surprise that Jonathan Lewis, their best bench option this year, was sent away on loan, but maybe they can right the ship with the remaining group.

TFC's wild win over the Galaxy was reminiscent of their epic 2016 playoff series against Montreal, or their epic CCL series against Tigres -- hey, wait a second. There seems to be a trend here. In all those cases, they won, but do they really have the guile and energy to win eight-goal thrillers again and again?

The Revs are back in the playoff hunt, but really need to win out or come close in order to swoop in for a slot. More likely, they'll be spoilers, but they seem like they might delight in that role in the final weeks of the season.

On paper, the Whitecaps' prospects aren't terrific but they aren't out of the running for the postseason, either. But in seeing the quotes coming from Vancouver after their loss to Seattle, it sounds like frustration may be giving way to resignation, and that isn't a great sign for their prospects.

Signs of life in Houston, as Alberth Elis found form and he and Mauro Manotas wreaked havoc on the Timbers. With another good matchup coming up against Orlando City, the Dynamo could find real confidence just in time for their U.S. Open Cup final against the Union.

Jonathan dos Santos and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had a good game in Toronto and...otherwise the Dom Kinnear era didn't start all that differently from how the Sigi Schmid era ended. Good to see the Galaxy fight back to make it 3-3 in that game, but the pieces just don't seem to fit on this team.

Tough week for Minnesota, but at least they capped things off with a decent draw on the road. They'll finally be back at home to host the Timbers, but with the way both teams' seasons have gone, good luck predicting how that game will turn out.

Fire win! A big victory will give the struggling team a boost, and we'll see how long they can keep it going. If their attack can find some joy again on the regular, they'll be in just about any game, so that's a starting point.

Probably the best compliment paid to the Rapids is that they weren't blown out as badly as some other teams Atlanta have faced, but that's scant consolation. It will be interesting to see what they choose to keep for the 2019 season.

From bad to worse for the Lions, who followed up a string of decent-if-futile performances with a stinker in Chicago. There are games to go, but have to think they're already ready to turn the page to 2019 in Central Florida.

And yet, the team with the worst week was San Jose, who parted ways with Mikael Stahre on Monday after being thrashed by Sporting at home. It should be a fascinating six months for the Quakes' front office, as they try to rebuild the rebuilding effort for the club.